Fall of The Anchorage: A Story of Survivors

[Sarawr!?]

Libertonian Carrier L.N.S Anchorage
FADM. Rachel Baker
MARSEC-2
Flight Deck 8
1839 hours

Rachel's head was throbbing as she knelt there on the deck, clinging to Melnikov's hand, his upper body rested across her legs, her mind racing. "Alex..Melnikov please." Sobbing, she begged, she knew he was gone, she couldn't help herself. "No no no no...please don't fucking go!" She doubled over, now holding Melnikov's shoulders, her face buried against his chest, his blood smearing the faceplate of her armor as she held him and wept like a child, ignoring everything else around her.

In the background, the Marines of Security Detachment 2 were gathering up the survivors from MARSEC-1, moving them to casualty collection points, while also rounding up the survivors from the Bison, five of them, along with the bearded executioner, such a small crew for pulling off something like this.

The heavy footfalls of armored boots got her attention, now visible in the corner of her eyes, she looked up.

"Ma'am, we have to go. This deck is compromised, we're not sure how long it'll last." The Marine, fully armored, face obscured by a tinted visor , held their hand out for Rachel, and in that moment she saw in them the image of an avenging archangel.

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Libertonian Carrier L.N.S Anchorage
Lance Corporal Kara Wade
MARSEC-2
Flight Deck 8
1845 hours

Corporal Wade pulled the Admiral to her feet, almost in one motion thanks to the servos in her armor. Their eyes met, but only for a moment, enough to make a shiver run down her spine. Rachel's expression was disconnected, and somehow full of rage all at once, with makeup stains running down her cheeks. "Eesh...thank God my outer visor's down." She thought, she'd never seen a look like that on someone's face before. "Admiral, Lieutenant Anderson says he can't reach the CIC on comms, but we had reports of gunfire and we-."

Kara paused when Rachel turned toward her and grabbed the carry handle of her rifle, looking coldly up at her. "...give me your rifle".

Kara felt her whole body tense up, "Okay, what the shit?" She thought, her grip on the rifle tightened. "Ma'am? You know they train us-"

Rachel's free hand was now gripping the upper handguard. "Give me the FUCKING gun, Marine!". Startled, Kara let go of her rifle and took a step back, putting her hands out to her sides. The Admiral performed a swift about-face, and made a beeline for the group captured from the Bison, stopping in front of the bearded man, holding the gauss rifle low, barrel pointed at his chest. It looked like they were speaking to each other, but Kara couldn't hear the conversation, the bearded man was shrugging and smirking up at the Admiral. Rachel's body language shifted and she took a step back, her footing changing to a supportive posture.

Kara took a few steps toward them. There was a bright blue flash, and Kara flinched when the audible report of the Gauss Rifle firing registered on her helmet's headset. "No fucking way, no goddamn way, what the fuck!" She shouted, watching as the bearded man fell over sideways, his blood spilling onto the deck. The Admiral ignored Kara's shouting, as well as the prisoners screaming, while she continued to fire into the group, only stopping once they were all flat on the deck and silent.

Kara looked around the bay, internally panicking and weaponless. She saw Lieutenant Anderson, the platoon leader of MARSEC-2 running toward the Admiral, cursing and waving his arms.

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Libertonian Carrier L.N.S Anchorage
FADM. Rachel Baker
MARSEC-2
Flight Deck 8
1850 hours

Rachel was breathing heavily, her eyes were burning from the tears, her mind ablaze with the realization of what she'd done. "Easy...easy, get it together Rache." She thought, trying to slow her breathing as she stood there before the consequences of her actions.

"...Marine, hey Marine!" A shout from behind her. "What the fuck are you doing! drop that fucking weapon!" She lowered the rifle and turned toward the voice, a man with a Lieutenant's insignia on his helmet, he kept running toward her, and when he saw the star cluster on her helmet, stopped short, so quickly that he almost tripped over himself as his demeanor changed. "A-Admiral...what...did you do?!" The shock on his face visible, as his visor plate was retracted.

She dropped the rifle to the floor, looking the Lieutenant in his eyes before glancing around the room at the Marines and Sailors whose eyes were glued to her, before she spoke coldly. "Terrorists and spies are not protected by the laws of war. Our ship has been attacked by spies, aided by infiltrators already aboard. We need to take back our ship. Do you get me?!" She glanced around the bay again, locking eyes with each person there. She was shaking, but she hoped nobody could see it.

A dead silence filled the room, Rachel's gaze continuing to wander over the group, meanwhile, Corporal Wade was taking nervous steps in her direction, intending to retrieve her rifle now that it was on the ground, as any good Marine would.

Finally, a Marine whose chest armor was dented, and blackened with burn marks, a survivor from MARSEC-1, stepped forward from the CCP at the back of the bay, removed his helmet, and looked directly at her before belting out "We get you, ma'am!", "oorah!" came the cry in unison from further behind him, his injured comrades from MARSEC-1 agreed.

"MARSEC-2, form up!" It was Lieutenant Anderson, turning away from her to face his men, watching as the 13 Marine team, including Kara Wade, lined up quickly in front of them. "We're gonna take back this fucking ship like the Admiral said, do you get me, Marines?!" The Lieutenant exhaled deeply. "OORAH!" came the cry in unison from the Marines before him.

"Fireteams two and three, stay here and help MARSEC-1 and the deck crew evacuate the wounded to the medbay, fireteam one, you're with the Admiral and I, we're going to the CIC."

Rachel lowered her helmet's outer visor, finally hiding her face. She closed her eyes, trying to find her center again before they were on the move.

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[LN] Recruitment | Rachel Baker Bio